But one of the main reasons I’m bummed is that one of my favorite Christian apologists is going to make his 3rd appearance at this year’s conference!

J. Warner Wallace

If you haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Jim, you’re really missing out. And, if you haven’t heard him give one of his presentations, immediately put that on your todo list, whether in person at the conference, or by viewing one of his YouTube videos. (Actually, just go watch it, as this is the presentation you may have missed two years ago.)

I first ‘met’ Jim back in early 2010 after I had been listening to his podcast and checking out his excellent collection of resources over at Please Convince Me. I really liked the intro/outro music he was using for the podcast and reached out to Jim, asking who the band was. This started a bit of conversation between us, as I had pointed out the very meager start of my own apologetics ministry website. (The band was Apt Core, in case you’re curious.)

What I admired about Jim, was how carefully he addressed issues and how fair he was to opposing points of view, and/or kind to opponents he had as guests on his podcast. The depth of his research, even down into original sources, was impressive, especially given he was working full-time as well as leading a house-church. And the approach he used to Christian apologetics – given his background in cold case homicide investigation – was something quite unique. I had to know more.

Two worlds collide – in a good way!

I also happened to be in graduate school/seminary at the time at Regent College in Vancouver, BC, Canada. So, when I learned that there was going to be a local apologetics conference, I was pretty excited. I made contact and attended the conference, where I met Andy Steiger, the director of Apologetics Canada. The first conference went even better than expected… they actually had to turn away people lined up to buy tickets at the door, due to fire codes. To see that kind of turnout, as someone studying Christian apologetics, had me overjoyed!

Andy expressed interest in learning more about what I was working on with TilledSoil, so we arranged to meet for coffee soon after the conference. During our chat, he asked if I knew of any interesting Christian apologists. I quickly thought of Jim, as well as Mary Jo Sharp, as people I’d run across who I thought would be very interesting to bring up to the conference in the coming years.

Imagine how thrilled I was when when I learned that the second Apologetics Canada Conference would be featuring both J Warner Wallace and Mary Jo Sharp, along with Dr. J.P. Moreland and Dr. Paul Copan. That’s an impressive lineup, and Jim hit it out of the park with his keynote.

But, not only that, Jim spent a great deal of time hanging out with everyone who volunteered to work the conference. He ate lunch with us, he prayed with us, he sat at the merchandise tables and got to know us, as we got to know him. He even helped setup, and if I recall, tear down. And while I would NOT want to tangle with him in a dark alley (even a well lit one!) – with the best of my spidey sense in operation – he’s one of the nicest, most genuine guys you’d want to meet. I’m honored to call him a friend, even though our time of interaction has been quite limited.

He is someone you definitely don’t want to miss, either in person or at least by familiarizing yourself with his great body of work. You can find out more about Jim by visiting his website, Cold Case Christianity.

Also check out this recent interview of J. Warner Wallace, “Accidental vs. Evidential Faith,” w/ Greg Koukl of Stand to Reason (another person and ministry you should become familiar with).

And, if you have children… or know any

If you have kids, or know any kids, there is another very important reason you should be at Apologetics Canada Conference 2016, or at least check out another of this year’s speakers.

Natasha Crain

Natasha is a Christian parenting blogger and author who I was very glad to see listed on this years’ conference roster. I ran across Natasha’s blog, Christian Mom Thoughts a while back and interacted a bit in the comments. Since signing up for her newsletter and keeping track of her blog a bit, her heart for our kids and a wealth of apologetic parenting advice has become very evident.

This is not my area of expertise, and it is an extremely underserved area of ministry. Most Christian apologists focus on high-school through college ages and adults. But, we absolutely need to start educating our children in Christian apologetics at a much earlier age. Natasha is very specially gifted to help us, as both apologists and parents, in this endeavor.

Steve loves getting people excited about Christian apologetics (case-making); seeing the beauty and rationality of Christianity and the Christian worldview. He is a husband, father, and long-time tech geek. Steve is director/educator at TilledSoil.org and also a designer/consultant at cgWerks. He holds a MA in Theology (Interdisciplinary – Christianity, Church & Culture) from Regent College in Vancouver, B.C. Canada. You can follow Steve on Twitter @TilledSoil, connect with him/TilledSoil.org on Facebook, or catch up with him on Google+.